Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,151 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 60,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,048,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1,841.4% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 72,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,812,000 after buying an additional 68,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 87,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,059,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $172.01. The company had a trading volume of 460,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 788,088. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $163.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.68. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a PE ratio of 58.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.03. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 38.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $169.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.82.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections, Inc provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.